General conditions for issuance of Certificates of professional competence of seafarers in Vietnam

General conditions for issuance of Certificates of professional competence of seafarers in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

The Minister of Transport issued Circular 20/2023/TT-BGTVT dated June 30, 2023, on professional standards, professional certificates, training, crew training, and minimum safe manning of Vietnamese ships.

1. What is a certificate of professional competence?

Certificate of professional competence is a certificate issued to seafarers according to the provisions of the STCW Convention.

(Clause 35, Article 3 of Circular 20/2023/TT-BGTVT)

2. General conditions for issuance of Certificate of professional competency for seafarers

According to Article 23 of Circular 20/2023/TT-BGTVT, to be granted a Certificate of professional competency for seafarers, individuals need to meet the following general conditions:

(1) Have sufficient working age and health standards according to regulations.

(2) Graduate or complete one of the following programs:

- Graduated from a major or major in ship navigation, ship engine operation, or ship electrical engineering according to a training program in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training or the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs ;

- Graduated from majors or majors specified in Point a of this Clause at foreign training establishments recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training;

- Graduated from the maritime officer training program according to regulations of the Minister of Transport;

- Complete the training modules for OS watchmen, oiler watchmen, and electrical technicians in training programs at college level or higher at specialized maritime training schools and meet the regulations in Section A- II/4; A- III/4; A- III/7 of the STCW Code.

(3) In the following cases, subjects that have not been studied or have not been studied enough must be supplemented.

- Graduated from majors or majors specified in (2) at schools that do not provide specialized maritime training;

- Graduated from majoring in ship engine repair from specialized maritime training schools;

- Graduated with a major in inland waterway vehicle control, inland waterway vehicle machinery or inland waterway vehicle electrical engineering at specialized inland waterway training schools.

(4) The following cases do not require additional supplementation: Graduated from a major or major with a different name from the major group specified in (2), but have studied all the subjects according to the training program of the industry or major specified in Clause 2 of this Article at specialized maritime training schools.

(5) Be qualified in terms of expertise and time holding the position corresponding to each position specified in Articles 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42 of Circular 20/2023/TT-BGTVT.

3. Conditions for reissuing the Certificate of Professional Competency for Seafarers in Vietnam

Specifically, Article 41 of Circular 20/2023/TT-BGTVT stipulates the conditions for re-issuance of seafarer professional competency certificates as follows:

- Certificates of professional competence are reissued in cases of loss, damage, change of information, expiration, or about to expire.

- For certificates of professional competence that have expired no more than 5 years or are about to expire, the following conditions must be met:

(i) The seafarer has held the job according to the title of the Certificate of Professional Competency issued for a total of 12 months or more within the 5-year period immediately preceding the date of request for re-issuance or 03 months within 06 months immediately before the date of request for reissue;

(ii) In case the conditions specified in (i) are not met, you must practice for 03 months according to the title of the Certificate of Professional Competence for 06 months immediately before applying for re-issuance or achieve exam results in the officer, captain, or chief engineer exam corresponding to the title of the expired Certificate of Professional Competence;

(iii) In case a seafarer has held a job with a similar title (i) but on a ship with title restrictions lower than the title restrictions recorded on the Certificate of Professional Competency requested for issuance of a certificate of professional competence with title restrictions equivalent to the class of ship the crew member has worked on;

+ Professional certificates appropriate to the title according to the provisions of the STCW Convention must be valid.

- For certificates of professional competence that have expired for 5 years or more:

+ For the positions of sailor on duty, mechanic on duty, and electrical technician: 03-month probationary period according to the title of the Certificate of Professional Competency for 06 months immediately before requesting a re-issue;

+ For officer positions and above: achieve exam results in the officer, captain, and chief engineer examinations prescribed by the Minister of Transport in accordance with the title of the expired Certificate of Professional Competence.

More details can be found in Circular 20/2023/TT-BGTVT taking effect on September 1, 2023.

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